“Investors were spooked by a report from HSBC that contained more dour news for China. HSBC’s initial purchasing manager’s index for Chinese manufacturing ticked up slightly to 47.8 in September from 47.6, the bank said Thursday. Any reading below 50 indicates that factory growth is shrinking rather than picking up speed.
Economists at Capital Economics said the data indicated a stabilization in China’s economy, but not a recovery.”
Comments »“Oil fell to a six-week low after U.S. stockpiles climbed the most since March, Chinese manufacturing shrank and Japanese exports fell, signaling fuel demand may be slowing among the world’s biggest crude users.”
Comments »“Stocks declined, with an index of emerging-market shares falling the most in two months, and metals slipped as reports signaled economies in Europe and Asia are slowing. The euro weakened and Spanish bonds dropped, while Treasuries gained for a fourth day.”
Comments »Just when President Obama and his shrinking band of backers got a whiff of hope from a job approval blip, comes the devastating news that conservatives not only give better sex but have better sex.
A new report from Match.com based on an outside survey of some 6,000 single Americans confirms what most conservatives had long believed privately but could never confirm because, being conservatives, they can’t really talk about sex or acknowledge its existence, despite all their children.
The finding: Republicans have the highest rate of orgasm of any group in the report. Especially conservative Republicans. No wonder those tea partiers always look so happy.
In fact, a majority of self-identified conservatives reported that during sex they reach orgasm just about every single time. That’s way higher than the Democrat’s national job approval.
Such a high conservative orgasm rate compares with only 40% reported success for liberal Democrats who, being liberal, talk openly forever about subjects like sex to affirm their liberality.
But we now know they’re over-compensating for inadequacy and self-report experiencing considerably less satisfaction in private.
Read the rest here.
Comments »As U.S. retail gasoline prices once again near $4.00 a gallon, does this pose a threat to the economy and President Obama’s prospects for re-election? My answer is no.
Read the rest and see some nice graphs, here.
Comments »New York is full of people who make big decisions about billions of dollars. To the person on the street, these decisions look rational, like something that’s part of a bigger plan.
But the course of true investing never did run smooth, and there are some traders who look to the stars to tell them what to do. Financial astrologers like Karen Starich say traders know they’re up against a lot of rich, smart people.
“They want to have that edge,” she says. “They want to know what the future is.”
Read the rest here.
Comments »You say Osama, I say Obama, let’s call the whole thing off…
The Obama administration promptly labeled Qumu an “ally of sorts,” according to the New York Times – that despite the fact that as of 2005, he was known as a “medium to high risk … likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies.” What made him an ally? According to the Times, that status change was due to the Obama administration’s “remarkable turnabout resulting from shifting American policies rather than any obvious change in Mr. Qumu.”
Read the rest here.
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Thank God for liberal atheists of the caliber of Sam Harris.
The contagion of moral cowardice followed its usual course, wherein liberal journalists and pundits began to reconsider our most basic freedoms in light of the sadomasochistic fury known as “religious sensitivity” among Muslims. Contributors to The New York Times and NPR spoke of the need to find a balance between free speech and freedom of religion—as though the latter could possibly be infringed by a YouTube video. As predictable as Muslim bullying has become, the moral confusion of secular liberals appears to be part of the same clockwork.
….
What exactly was in the film? Who made it? What were their motives? Was Muhammad really depicted? Was that a Quran burning, or some other book? Questions of this kind are obscene. Here is where the line must be drawn and defended without apology: we are free to burn the Quran or any other book, and to criticize Muhammad or any other human being. Let no one forget it.
….
The freedom to think out loud on certain topics, without fear of being hounded into hiding or killed, has already been lost. And the only forces on earth that can recover it are strong, secular governments that will face down charges of blasphemy with scorn. No apologies necessary. Muslims must learn that if they make belligerent and fanatical claims upon the tolerance of free societies, they will meet the limits of that tolerance. And Governor Romney, though he is wrong about almost everything under the sun (including, very likely, the sun), is surely right to believe that it is time our government delivered this message without blinking.
Read the rest here.
Comments »I think that I can prove that the Romney tape “1-2 minute gap” was not the result of a technical failure, but instead was done in post-production. It is possible that was a technical error but we’re getting deep in Rosemary Woods territory there.
Read the rest here.
Comments »In a effort to ease higher oil prices stifling a low growth global economy, The house of Saud has decided to ship more crude to consuming nations.
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The company says their low end targets will be hard to achieve as the global landscape has changed for the worse…
Comments »“(MoneyWatch) Today’s the day: Apple’s (AAPL) latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, is available for your existing iPhones and iPads. (If you want iOS 6 wrapped in a shiny new iPhone 5, you’ll still have to wait until September 21.)
But what exactly is under the hood? Is iOS 6 worth the time and trouble (no cost; it’s free) to install if you don’t have a faster processor and larger screen to take advantage of the flashier features? Here’s a roundup of all the most interesting stuff Apple packed into the new iPhone operating system — read it and then decide for yourself:
New maps. Perhaps the biggest news is that Apple has implemented its own mapping software and given Google Maps the boot. Industry competition aside, this is a pretty nice deal for iPhone users, since Apple’s map app includes free turn-by-turn driving directions — a first for the iPhone. That said, Apple’s maps aren’t as polished as Google’s (GOOG) offerings, with the search giant having about a decade head start in this arena. ”
Comments »“Nicholas Colas at ConvergEx plays off of Mitt Romney’s current PR troubles to point out that fund flows into ETFs have hit $47 billion for the third quarter, and goes on to predict that “ETF assets will explode” in the fourth quarter.
The $47 billion to hit in the third quarter so far is an acceleration from the first half of the year, when ETFs took in an average of $37.5 billion a quarter. Seventy-five percent of the third quarter money has gone into equity ETFs, and nearly half of that, $22.9 billion, into U.S. equities, Colas notes.
That’s not enough to offset the $40.3 billion that’s flowed out of traditional mutual funds, he acknowledges.
The vast majority of ETF fund inflows went into so-called passive, or indexed, funds. Sector specific funds seeing the most inflows included financials, up $1.6 billion, and industrials, up $1.1 billion.
As for the fourth quarter:
“My most considered thought about Q4 2012 is that ETF assets will explode, posting further gains above and beyond even Q3’s accelerating AUM growth. The largest driver of this expansion will be investors who wish to lock in the tax treatment of capital gains according to 2012’s regulations, rather than roll the dice on what may come in 2013 and future years.”
Comments »“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Yahoo says it will return $3 billion to shareholders after selling back about half of its 40% stake in Chinese company Alibaba for $7.1 billion, according to documents filed with the SEC.
Alibaba Group Holding, an online marketplace based in China, repurchased its 523 million shares from Yahoo for $7.1 billion.”
Comments »“The good news (for now at least) is that analysts are expecting a profit rebound in the fourth quarter and beyond. Forecasts are for earnings to increase 10% in the fourth quarter from the same period a year ago, and that earnings will be 11% higher in 2013 than in 2012.
What’s more, valuations (despite all the major indexes being at multi-year highs) are not completely unreasonable. The S&P 500 is currently trading at 13 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months.
Still, would it qualify as a monumental surprise if these profit projections wind up being too rosy? Analysts are often overly optimistic. And it just seems natural for stocks to take a breather right now when you consider all the macro risks.”
Comments »“The Federal Reserve should have waited for clearer signs of a flagging economy before launching its new bond-buying program, the head of the St. Louis regional Fed bank said, adding that he would have voted against it.
James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, also told Reuters that he is sufficiently concerned about the risk of future inflation that he backs a controversial proposal by congressional Republicans for the Fed to return to having only a single mandate: preventing inflation.
The Fed currently has a dual focus on full employment and stable prices.”
Comments »“Gold is no longer a commodity trading in step with other commodities against the dollar, but is developing a life of its own as a currency in itself, say Deutsche Bank analysts Daniel Brebner and Xiao Fu.
Global uncertainty tends to have commodities moving in a risk-on, risk-off trading pattern, meaning good news generally sends commodities up and the dollar down, while bad news sends both asset classes in the reverse direction, with some exceptions.
That pattern is quickly becoming a thing of the past where gold is concerned, as the precious metal is becoming less correlated to other commodities and is behaving more like the safe-haven dollar and yen amid market swings.”
Comments »“Salesforce.com is setting up the next big battle in the market with a new service they are calling Facebook style identity for the enterprise.
The new service, which Marc Benioff first discussed on stage at Disrupt San Francisco 2012, is being called a single, social, trusted identity in the cloud across all enterprise apps.”
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